Press Release

Spy Thriller, "The Leipzig Affair" Wins the Sceptre Prize and The Virginia Prize for Fiction in the UK

Aurora Metro Press and author Fiona Rintoul are pleased to announce that their new literary spy thriller, "The Leipzig Affair" was the winner of the Sceptre Prize and the Virginia Prize for Fiction UK. The book has also been adapted as a radio drama for BBC Radio’s Book at Bedtime.

New York, NY, March 26, 2015 --(PR.com)-- The year is 1985. East Germany is in the grip of communism. Magda, a brilliant but disillusioned young linguist, is desperate to flee to the West. When a black market deal brings her into contact with Robert, a young Scot studying at Leipzig University, she sees a way to realise her escape plans. But as Robert falls in love with her, he stumbles into a complex world of shifting half-truths – one that will undo them both.

Many years later, long after the Berlin Wall has been torn down, Robert returns to Leipzig in search of answers. Can he track down the elusive Magda?

And will the past give up its secrets?

Recent Praise for The Leipzig Affair:"Deftly told in short, punchy chapters, the thriller is a page-turner that shifts from East to West and the dark days of the 1980s to present reunification." - The Evening Times

"Rintoul pulls the reader through her story with craft and psychological precision, while trawling a satisfyingly long way into her characters’ pasts and futures." - The Scotsman

About The Author:Fiona Rintoul is a writer and translator based in Glasgow in Scotland. She writes fiction and articles, and translates from German and French into English. Fiona’s poems and short stories have appeared in anthologies and magazines, including Mslexia and Gutter, and she is a past winner of the Gillian Purvis New Writing Award.

Background to the book:Fiona was herself sent on a student exchange program to Leipzig in the 1980s and her experiences there formed the basis for the novel.

To see an interview on BBC News Scotland with the author about the writing of the book: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-31800376

For review copies, author interviews, or more information please contact: